Knowing firsthand the perversions of Danish humor, The 5 Obstructions disappointed me somewhat - I expected something grueling, offensive, and obtuse. Instead I was treated to a von Trier lovefest; it wasn’t wholly unexpected - Leth’s The Perfect Human is a beautiful film, and one that influenced von Trier’s filmic metaphysics. Nevertheless, when a film promises obstructions, and fails to deliver anything more than a moment’s discomfort (something von Trier admits - the obstructions were little more than inspiration to Leth, and hardly ever “hurt” or “left a mark” as von Trier had hoped.)

As a tribute film, The Five Obstructions introduces us to some heady stuff - The Perfect Human’s stark, crisp detachment makes it a fine study in semiotics, something Claus Nissen (as the perfect human) understands almost too well; where one might expect to find naivete one finds experience, and the self-conscious “knowing” portrayed becomes a persistent reminder that a performance is taking place, and it’s not just a series of images flashed across a screen in the comfortable darkness. Von Trier is acutely aware of this, and he knows that Leth can’t replicate his performances (would he even dare?), and thus the film begins with its initial aesthetic strictures, a feature that dissolves as Leth grows more comfortable not only with the source material and all pertaining nostalgia, but with filmmaking itself - which is von Trier’s real aim.

But in making a film so personal, it forgets the audience: it’s a challenge directed several ways - not only is the intention to draw Leth out and to depict von Trier as the heartless, volatile villain but also to entertain the viewer, to engage at a level of detachment so that one can view the creative process as coldly as Leth typically does, while maintaining the sentimentality of a friendly challenge. Failing that, each of the five shorts should stand on their own as entertaining pieces - and they do, at least at first, until Leth is removed entirely from the creative aspect of the film when he becomes its subject.

Overall, The Five Obstructions promises five fixed forms of varying difficulty. Such a practice for an artist of any type can often find inspiration in a challenge such as this - be it a sestina or villanelle for a writer, which can be like making a film with a cut every twelve frames. But like many films that promise so much heartwrenching mystery and anguished soul searching (Sam Jones’ I Am Trying to Break Your Heart springs immediately to mind), we’re invited rather to see a film about a particular filmmaker immersed in his craft, and the film becomes an elliptical documentary about a depressed, reclusive man whom von Trier has so egotistically volunteered to welcome home.